RECHARGED

Tech sector boosts real estate sales in city

NEW YORK’S tech boom is giving the city’s real estate biz a nice lift.

The tech sector fueled 159 real estate deals in 2011, more than double the 74 tech property deals done in the city in 2008, according to a report from CBRE.

Over the last five years, New York City has been home to 1,000 tech startups backed by $2.7 billion in venture capital investment, which has led to information technology jobs increasing 28.7%.

That has made technology the biggest rival to the finance sector’s traditional dominance of the city’s economy, CBRE said.

The positive consequences can be felt in neighborhoods like Midtown South, which has the lowest office vacancy rate in the country,

“With Midtown South availability practically nil, the tech companies are pushing into the downtown market, and we expect them to be moving more into Brooklyn in the near fu- ture,” said Ben Friedland, executive vice president of CBRE.

Sacha Zarba, senior vice president at CBRE, said that unlike in the past, which saw a boom and bust in tech, the tech economy today is sustainable.

“The continually improving academic, intellectual capital and quality of life aspects of New York City will anchor a sustainable tech economy that will continue to grow,” Zarba said.